This is the sickening moment an 82-year-old woman was floored and hurt by a shoplifter fleeing a city centre store.

She banged her head on a food cabinet and suffered a broken finger when she was "deliberately" pushed by drug-addled thief Mark Danville in Heron Foods, Paragon Street, on September 8.

The victim, who lost her mobility and independence as a result of her injuries, was too scared to make a complaint, fearing he may "find her and seek revenge", Hull Crown Court heard.

In separate incidents, Danville also stole his sister's £400 iPad - which he sold for £12.50 to buy drugs and alcohol - and was caught on CCTV "grinning" at the camera while trying to break a shop window with a scaffolding pole.

JAILED: Mark Danville, who knocked an elderly woman to the floor after stealing from a shop

Danville, 34, and an unidentified accomplice, had been caught on CCTV stuffing jars of coffee down their trousers, and fled when an alarm was activated and shop worker shouted "Oi, put that back! Danville pushed the unsuspecting victim near the entrance in his desperation to get out.

He argued with a judge about the incident when appearing over a video link from Hull Prison, and was jailed for nine months.

After viewing the footage, Recorder Ray Singh told Danville: "Anybody who steals items from shops knows there's a chance they are going to be tackled, and in your haste to try and escape your arrest and apprehension, you, in my view, deliberately pushed over an elderly lady."

"No, it was an accident," said Danville.

"Please don't make your position any worse, Mr Danville," said the judge. "I have come to the view that was a deliberate push."

Stephen Welch, prosecuting, said the victim was "in a lot of pain" and had lost her mobility and independence, as she had been told to keep her arm in a sling and not move her bandaged finger for six weeks. This had made it a "struggle to bathe" and she could not cook hot meals.

"She was unwilling to make a formal complaint because she was worried the defendant might try and find her and seek revenge upon her," Mr Welch said.